Thursday, December 29, 2011

For the past few years I’ve stopped myself from making any resolutions. I don’t know whether it was my extreme youth or half heartedness when making previous resolutions that caused me to fail each year. I’m not sure if this is a purely American thing but every January it seems that every gym in the country has 10 times more commercials than usual attempting to get people who resolved to lose weight to sign a year long contract before said people go back to Krispy Kreme in February. New Year’s resolutions seemed like an empty promise people made to themselves, but this year I’m feeling differently.

This year I’m feeling motivated and think a New Year’s resolution is the kick in the pants I need to keep doing what I’ve already started. Being out of classes and not working much I’ve kind of gotten lazy about a lot of things I started this year. I did finally volunteer at a great no- cage, no-kill animal shelter by my house and do some reading for my thesis next semester but that’s about it. I’ve gained back 4 lbs sitting around the house eating latkes and watching every daytime tv show.

So I’m resolving to:

Get my diet back on track with lots of yummy fruits and veggies

Continue volunteering at least once a month at the animal shelter

Starting January, post to this blog at least every other Friday

Keep up my recycling and upcycling

Stop panicking about grad school applications

I’m going to keep this post short, sweet, and to the point. I will have a new post up by January 6 at the latest!

Friday, December 16, 2011

I've been putting off this post for a while but now I think its time to announce I've gone vegan! There are a lot of misconceptions as to what vegan food really is like, so throughout this post I have placed photos of vegan food from the blog veganyumyum. Just to be clear the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines veganism as:

“a strict vegetarian who consumes no animal food or dairy products;also:one who abstains from using animal products (as leather)”

This diet excludes eating eggs, butter, any dairy, and obviously all dead animals, and the lifestyle means excluding all animal products including suede, wool and in products lanolin and carmine.

Its been about 3 1/2 months since I started, so I think I can discuss this subject with some mild proficiency. Before I start let me clarify that I am working on a vegan lifestyle which includes food but also clothing, products, etc. However in general, most posts will still be beauty related. All vegan products I buy are still cruelty free! This post will cover a few topics within the vegan category just to lay the ground work for some later posts. I will continue creating posts regarding animal testing!

To start with, I want to share why I made such a dramatic change. I know that people adopt a vegan diet for many reasons, most commonly: ethical, health, and environmental reasons. It will come as no surprise that I changed my diet for ethical reasons first and foremost. The more I learn about factory farming, the more disturbing and inhumane I find it. When a person eats meat there is the undeniable knowledge that an animal has suffered, but people do not associate this same suffering with dairy, eggs, honey and other animal products but it is most certainly there. This is why I decided to become vegan, not simply vegetarian or limit my intake of these products.

Jo-Anne McArthur, a Canadian photographer and animal rights activist, has an amazing but graphicphoto gallery that illustrates human relationships with animals. The "Dairy and Veal Farm" gallery shows some of the reasons why I will not purchase dairy products. Due to the graphic nature of a few of the galleries, please exercise good judgment as to whether you believe you should view them or not. I definitely do not believe you need to see any graphic images to make humane changes in your lifestyle. I personally did not see these photos until very recently.

Yes, it was very hard at first! But I've only been vegan for 3 1/2 months and I feel so comfortable with it already that I don't think I will ever go back. I never considered myself a vegetarian, but I simply almost never ate meat only some fish a few times a month. Therefore, my diet consisted of a large chunk of dairy products, processed foods, and a small area of fruits, vegetables, and nuts. While I rarely ate out or ingested a lot of sugary foods, I did not have a healthy diet. Because so much of my diet consisted of dairy and I stopped “cold-turkey” I actually had withdrawal symptoms for 9-10 days. I was irritable and had headaches almost this entire time.

On the bright side, I have lost a total of 18 lbs since going vegan. It has been very easy, and I’ve even indulged in vegan french fries and sweets every now and then. Over the years I’ve given up on a lot of diets for one reason or another, and even though veganism may be the (at first) toughest one I’ve tried, it has been the most successful. Because I came to veganism for ethical reasons, to me there is so much more at stake when I chose what I want to eat. This makes it exponentially easier for me to stick to this diet and lose weight.

I know that many people become vegan simply for health reasons. I’ve watched the documentary Forks over Knives which discusses the China Study. I personally have felt less sluggish and tired after eating and in general. I haven’t notice a humongous change, but the 2 times I ended up cheating I felt so physically ill afterwards! I think different things work for different people, and a well planned vegan diet is a healthy option. I met with my general practitioner about my diet changes and discussed any supplements I should take a week after I began my new diet.

There are some obvious environmental impacts of being vegan but I’m not exactly sure how much these factors into determining your carbon footprint. Obviously cows produce methane and the number of cows produced to support factory farming weighs heavily on the environment. In addition there is all the animal waste and transportation pollution. I can’t remember where I heard this but all the grain fed to animals raised simply to be slaughtered could feed either every human on the planet or every human suffering from malnutrition three times! To me, any change no matter how little adds up and is important. Going vegan has also encouraged me to be more vigilant in my current recycling program increase my amount of “upcycling”.

I will continue my regular posts but will now be including more vegan information on products. I will also be sharing the love with some helpful cruelty free and vegan links, apps, and info I've found over the past few months.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Revlon is a major drug store brand that is commonly considered a cruelty free item. Before I began this blog I purposely bought some of products and then the next day read that they weren't completely cruelty free, I believe because their ingredient suppliers did animal test. So, I emailed the company to get to the bottom of all this.

July 22, 2011

Thank you for your recent comments from the Revlon website and for voicing your concern to us.

Revlon is in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations related to animal testing. All ingredients used by Revlon and all products manufactured and sold by Revlon comply with both U.S. and European Union laws and regulations, including full compliance with all Europe-wide bans on testing of cosmetics and cosmetics ingredients using animals, which are part of the European Cosmetics Directive.

Revlon has long been an industry leader in the elimination of animal testing. In 1986, Revlon was the first beauty products manufacturer to close down its animal testing facilities completely. In addition, Revlon holds its suppliers of ingredients and components to the same standards. All chemical supplier purchase orders require confirmation by the supplier that it does not perform animal testing on materials supplied.

To assure product safety, Revlon relies on the judgment of pharmacologic, toxicologic and medical experts, non-animal alternative test methods and the established safety of formulations and ingredients. Revlon is committed to providing safe and effective products and will continue to comply with all government laws and regulations necessary to assure the quality, safety and efficacy of its products.

Thank you for your interest in our company. If we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to let us know.

So, sounds pretty good to me. The only thing I'm confused about is the "European wide bans." I've been receiving all kinds of emails lately asking for me to sign petitions ensuring that the European wide ban on animal testing goes through. Based on information on the European Commission website here and my recent emails, it seems that steps to phase out animal testing to varying extents have been in practice since 2004. The deadline for finding alternative testing methods to replace all animal testing is in 2013. Therefore Revlon could be complying with the European animal testing ban and still be animal testing.

In fact, there are suddenly a lot of issues being raised about this 2013 timeline can be met, and it seems if enough alternative tests are not "developed and validated before March 2013" testing will still continue.

You're probably wondering why I'm acting all weird with Revlon when the email seems to clear them, right? Hopefully you have already read my post on the Leaping Bunny program to the right under July 2011. Leaping Bunny uses third party auditors to check up on companies to verify that they adhere to the animal testing guidelines they tell us they are using. Any company can be put on the Leaping Bunny list for FREE. Leaping Bunny has a page on their website (here) asking people to contact Revlon and insist on them taking the pledge, since they already declare that they are already cruelty free and not only that but practicly a pioneer for animal rights. It isn't explicitly said anywhere, but it seems Leaping Bunny has been trying to get Revlon on their list for a while.

Regarding why a company may not want to join the program and take the pledge, the Leaping Bunny website states:

"Some companies choose not to join the Leaping Bunny Program because they continue to conduct or commission animal testing for their ingredients or formulations, or they wish to reserve the right to test on animals in the future. Other companies simply may not realize the importance of joining the program to demonstrate their commitment against the use of animals in product testing."

Overall, I feel as if I need to exercise caution in regards to Revlon. If the email is enough for you that is fine; it would have been enough for me if I hadn't seen the page on leapingbunny.org. Something about this seems not right to me so I'm going to stear clear of their products until I find a definitive answer.

As far as subsidiaries are concerned, I have only been able to find Mirage Cosmetics which Revlon purchased in March of this year.

UPDATE:

I just found this article on uncaged.co.uk regrading EU laws regarding animal testing. There are no photographs but some of the descriptions are graphic regarding how animals can be treated in labratories. This is a change trying to be pushed through as of September 2011. If this is legal in the UK, which is a EU country, I'm confused what it not allowed under EU law.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

EDIT: March 25, 2012- I emailed MAC to receive their supposedly new animal testing policy but it has NOT changed. I am very unhappy with the response I received as it seems no effort was put into answering my questions at all. My email and MAC's response is below.

March 2, 2012

Can you please provide me with MAC's animal testing policy. Please provide information regarding the testing of finished products and ingredients as well as any animal testing conducted by a third party on your behalf.

In addition, can you please provide some information regarding whether or not your company, like your parent company Estee Lauder, sells to China or any other country that requires animal testing of all cosmetic products.

March 22, 2012

Thank you for taking the time to contact MAC.

MAC has a longstanding policy to not test on animals, nor ask others to test on our behalf, except when required by law.

****************************************************************

MAC Cosmetics is undoubtedly the most well known cosmetic brand available today. MAC is a subsidiary of Estée Lauder, which from my point of view is not cruelty free. My email correspondence with their company can be found under the July 2011 tab to the right. I was unable to find any information regarding MAC's animal testing policies on their official website.

Since many people do consider MAC a cruelty free company, I sent them an email to see if their animal testing policy differs from that of their parent company.

July 27, 2011

I have been a very happy MAC customer for some time, but I have some questions regarding your animal testing policy. Do you share the same animal testing policies as your parent company Estee Lauder? Could you please send me some information regarding testing of finished products and ingredients as well as any third party testing. Thank you for your help.

July 28, 2011

Thank you for your interest in M.A.C.

The Estee Lauder Companies are committed to the elimination of animal testing. We are equally committed to consumer health and safety, and bringing to market products that comply with applicable regulations in every country in which our products are sold.

We do not conduct animal testing on our products or ingredients, nor ask others to test on our behalf, except when required by law. We evaluate our finished products in clinical tests on volunteer panels.

The Estee Lauder Companies fully supports the development and global acceptance of non-animal testing alternatives. To this end, the Company works extensively with the industry at large and the global scientific community to research and fund these alternatives.

I appreciate the opportunity to respond to your question, and sincerely hope I was able to be of assistance. You are valued as our consumer and I hope you will continue to use and enjoy our products with confidence and satisfaction.

So MAC does have the same animal testing policies as its parent company Estée Lauder. I find its frustrating that a common response I have been getting is that companies don't test "except when required by law." How often is it required by law? What percentage of your products end up being tested on animals due to these legal reasons? I have already stopped purchasing MAC's products due to their parent company's animal testing policy, but this reinforces my commitment to not buy from MAC.

They say they don't animal test except when they have to... so really they are animal testing.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

I've brought up the Leaping Bunny Program in multiple posts, so I decided to dedicate this post to the program to help you better understand this group and what their logo really stands for. Also, I thought this would be a nice way to break up the depressing string of products that animal test since I am willing to purchase almost every product listed in the Leaping Bunny Shopping Guide. A majority of the information I will be discussing in this post is from the Leaping Bunny's FAQ page which can be found here.

To begin with, the Leaping Bunny Program was created by and still run by the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics, commonly referred to the CCIC. The CCIC is comprised of a handful of animal welfare groups mainly located in the United States and Canada. The entire list of involved groups can be found here. The main goal of the group was to create a cruelty free standard for cosmetics as well as personal care and household products. Like this blog, they wanted to make shopping easy for consumers so they could avoid to frustration and confusion associated with cruelty free shopping.

So, what are their standards? In short, their guidelines assure that no new animal tests will be performed. This includes testing of ingredients and finished products as well as any third party testing. In my eyes the most important aspect of being a registered with Leaping Bunny is that these company's are open to independent audits. Consumers do not have to simply trust what the company says or fall prey to intentionally misleading animal testing statements! Leaping Bunny has an un-associated, third party review these matters for us.

I wanted some clarification so I emailed the Leaping Bunny on August 12 and received this response August 16:

Thank you for your email. Companies who adhere to the Leaping Bunny Standard have agreed in writing to ban all animal testing throughout the manufacturing process (including ingredients and using third party testers!). Leaping Bunny requires verifiable assurances from ingredient suppliers, in addition to an unchangeable date after which these ingredients may not be tested on animals. Signatories

must recommit every year, and also be open to independent audits.

The audits are done by a third party who visits the company personally to go through their paperwork and manufacturing processes. The few times we have had to remove companies from the list were because a) they refused to do the audit or b) there were issues with some of their ingredient suppliers that would make them ineligible for certification and which they did not wish to modify to be in compliance. The companies chosen for audits are done so at random.

Overall I am very happy with the information I have been able to find regarding the Leaping Bunny program. For me personally, I dislike that they list such companies such as Tom of Maine's and Burt's Bees. These companies do not animal test but they are subsidiaries of parent companies who do test. However, they are marked with a small purple square on their online shopping guide to let consumers know that this is the case.

The Leaping Bunny Online Shopping Guide can be found here. They will also mail free pocket shopping guides as well if you send them an email requesting one. You can also download their shopping app for free!

You can also sign their Cruelty-Free Pledge here. I signed up for the hell of it but later received a discount code for whiterabbitbeauty.comwhich I believe sells mostly to only Leaping Bunny certified products.

They also list some additional ways you can help animals here. I hope everyone at least takes a moment to review their website since I believe this shopping guide is far superior to PETA's horrible one that everyone seems to know about. And also sorry for the weird font changes this editor is just weird and refuses to listen to what I tell it to do!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Chanel is one of the most well known fashion companies in the world hands down. Chanel is a privately held brand under Chanel S.A. (I believe Chanel S.A. emerged when Chanel began acquiring subsidiaries). This website lists some of Chanel S.A.'s subsidiaries as Eres swimsuit company and Holland and Holland Guns.

Obviously Chanel is not historically a cruelty free company in regards to its fashion lines. The company's Autumn 2010 line did get publicity for featuring faux fur creations (I do not know about their particular line, but a lot of "faux fur" is not regulated and contains dog and cat hair), but I don't think much has changed besides this one incident.

This post will just be focusing on Chanel's perfume and makeup animal testing policies. Chanel's posted animal testing statement can be found on their official website here under the Fragrance and Beauty tab. For me, it leaves much to be desired because it does not bring up the possibility of commissioning third party testers nor does it specify whether animal tests are done or not done on both finished products and ingredients. I forgot to save a copy of the email I sent to them on July 19, 2011 but I inquired about all the above issues I had.

July 21, 2011

Thank you for taking the time to contact Chanel. Chanel does not useanimals for product testing.

Product testing on animals may be carried out by ingredient suppliers inthe case of some raw materials (that are used in other industries aswell as the cosmetics industry), but only when there are no other,so-called alternative , substitute methods available that couldguarantee consumer safety.

This is why the prohibitions listed in the European CosmeticsDirective are planned to come into force in 2013 at the very latest, thedate on which suppliers will have to stop such tests.

This prohibition will therefore become effective gradually as ECVAM, theEuropean Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods, validatesalternative methods to replace testing on animals.

We are, of course, in favour of these measures, and are, moreover, veryinvolved within the perfume and cosmetics industry in financing majorresearch projects that examine alternative testing methods to replacetesting on animals.

Thank you for your interest in CHANEL.

I am personally unhappy with this response. While I did receive an answer about ingredient testing, there was no information about third party testing. I had already suspected this since many companies simply say "Chanel does not test on animals." instead of saying "Chanel does not test on animals, we pay X Laboratories to do so for us." I think they threw a lot of information into the email that I didn't ask for in an attempt to move my attention from Chanel to ingredient testers.

Chanel is obviously not an animal friendly company, but some people seem to think they do not participate in animal testing. The money you give them will be used to obtain fur for their fashion items (remember even faux fur isn't a safe option) or to buy ingredients that are tested on animals. I will not be buying anything from Chanel.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Estée Lauder, of course, owns the cosmetic brand Estée Lauder but also owns many other well known brands including, but not limited to, MAC cosmetics, Bobbi Brown, Clinique, and Coach. I will be adding other posts regarding some of these individual companies for shoppers interested only in the individual brand's animal testing policies. A full list of Estée Lauder's companies can be found here.

Before emailing customer service I reviewed the animal testing policies on the parent website. These policies can be found here under "Animal Testing" and "Respect for Animal Welfare." A section of their animal testing policy reads:

"We do not conduct animal testing on our products or ingredients, nor ask others to test on our behalf, except when required by law. We evaluate our finished products in clinical tests on volunteer panels."

For me personally, I take issue with the "except when required by law" they tactfully added. I know there are companies who are 100% cruelty free so I am confused as to how they get around these required animal tests so I emailedEstée Lauder's customer service. Below I have listed the emails that I sent and received.

July 19, 2011

I have been using many of the products provided by your company from MAC, Clinique, Estee Lauder, Michael Kors, and Origins to name a few, but recently I have had some questions with your animal testing policy. I have read the information regarding this on your web pages, but I have one question. Your statement says that "We do not conduct animal testing on our products or ingredients, nor ask others to test on our behalf, except when required by law." However, the FDA does not require that this testing be done on animals.

Your company talks about using and researching many alternatives to animal testing so I am curious when you will exclusively use alternative testing of both the finished products and ingredients? I will sadly not be able to repurchase any of the products I currently own from your company, but look forward to possibly being able to do so in the future.

July 19, 2011

Thank you for your interest in Estée Lauder.We have always been against animal testing. Recently, the global regulatory climate has become more stringent and cosmetic companies are being asked to further validate the human and environmental safety of their ingredients and products. We are equally committed to consumer health and safety. Given these increased requirements for ensuring the safety of cosmetic ingredients, animal testing may be legally necessary under certain circumstances when no non-animal test alternative is available or acceptable to governmental/health authorities. Be assured that we will make every effort to avoid having ingredients tested on animals, taking all practical and available steps to see that existing or non-animal test data is used instead. However, if ultimately this is required in order for the Company to sell its products, we will, of course, comply with the law.

I appreciate the opportunity to respond to your question, and sincerely hope I was able to be of assistance. You are valued as our consumer and I hope you will continue to use and enjoy our products with confidence and satisfaction.

I personally will no longer be purchasing the products from Estée Lauder or any of its subsidiaries. These companies are often considered cruelty free by a majority of people, so I had been repurchasing some products over the past few months which I am very upset about.

I am unsure if there is any way for me to know whether these companies truly only animal test due to legal reasons and only in these cases or not, but any animal testing is too much for me. However, I will be looking into more information regarding when the government will not accept alternatives to animal testing. I suppose the government also has a way of wording statements so as to appear as not encouraging of animal testing (shocking I know!).

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

When I first decided to go cruelty free I thought it would be easy-peasy. If you have seriously tried to go cruelty free you know this is a resounding "Not so!" My google search produced multiple websites which listed cruelty free and non-cruelty free companies. I was so happy there was such a wealth of information. However, as I started looking through these multiple lists I realized how inconsistent they were.

Insert annoyed and frazzled face here.

So instead I went to see what beauty gurus and assorted bloggers/opinion givers said. I was unsure about just reading company statements since I had heard complaints about all of the misleading phrases. Every person seemed to have their own good and bad list so that was just as inconsistent as the lists I had found.

I ended up just picking PETA's list, which i do not recommend, since they seemed pretty extreme to me and, in my mind, therefore would have the most stringent requirements to be listed. Not so! (FYI: I currently use Leaping Bunny's list its not the most accessible, but they list stores owned by testing brands and add an annotation to tell you so.)

Image credit: tohappyvegans.com

These are the top reasons that I believe are making it so hard for people to get consistent answers in regards to animal testing. Hopefully, if we understand why there is so much confusion we can communicate with companies and other shoppers in a meaningful way.

Misleading Company Statements

I think this is the main/biggest reason for all the confusion. Companies purposefully mislead their consumers in this way and if they were upfront we wouldn't have to speculate amongst ourselves about what is true.

If a company simply says we do not test on animals, that doesn't actually mean that they don't (They hire third party testers). If a company says we do not testfinished products on animals, they probably tested the ingredients on animals. Ridiculous I know. There are still other statements that essentially say "We don't want to but..." and bring up legal reasons which are not 100% true.

I think the confusion is great for companies. If someone is saying they aren't cruelty free it doesn't matter if another person is saying they are. All the confusion causes some people to give up on going completely cruelty free and still buy the product. Also a consumer can hold onto the hope that maybe the product is cruelty free and continue repurchasing. At the moment, if there is serious confusion over a product I just don't buy it.

Personal Comfort Level

As I said in my first post, many consumers buy cruelty free products even if they are distributed by a parent company who is not cruelty free. Other cruelty free consumers buy products from companies who have the "unless required by law" stipulation in their animal testing statements. Many people are comfortable with this and many others are not.

This is where some problems arise.

Image credit: beliefnet.com

Many people assess a company's statements, filter it through their perceptions, information and comfort level, and end up with a simple yes or no for whether they animal test. This works great on an individual basis. When other people who want to go cruelty free, like me, don't read the company statements for fear of confusion we usually look to what other cruelty free people are using. This person's comfort level and our comfort level may not match.

In addition, if someone is just starting a cruelty free lifestyle change they may not even realize that this is an issue. When I started I also thought it was a simple yes/no, testing/non testing problem.

Is there even a completely cruelty free product?

All ingredients in cosmetics have been tested on animals at some point. No, I don't have the stats, but it has to be close to all if not all. The link below goes to a video gossmakeupartist on youtube has created where he goes in depth about this. Eventually this again becomes an issue regarding personal comfort level.

I personally will not buy a product if my money will be spent on more new animal tests. I can't go back in time to stop something, and if I can't accept that then I won't be wearing any makeup. To quote Goss "Its bothersome that that's the case, but that is the case."

This being said there are many, many companies that are smaller which sell cruelty free as well as organic and vegan products and I'm not sure whether this applies to them or not. However, they obviously are putting in effort and will be explored later here.

I want my first post to reflect my reasons for creating this blog and to share a little about myself with you.

I have always been an animal lover (I own 5 cats & 2 rats), and very cognizant of the fact that some ways I lived my life were harming animals such as eating meat, wearing leather and makeup. Pretty much everyone around me did not give these issues any special attention beyond the occasional "oh well, thats too bad/sad." A few people, who I now know don't understand a lot of hidden things going on in these industries, told me that steaks and leather shoes were a part of life, "people eat cows, why waste the leather?"

However, 4-5 months ago after some serious realizations I began putting more effort into eating a significantly reduced amount of meat (still considering going vegan though) and completely cutting out cosmetic brands that are in the obvious no-go lists for anyone buying cruelty free products. I was really happy with my changes, and I was actually surprised at how easy it was because I didn't have to give up my favorite cosmetic items.

Whats the problem?

There are many brands that are on almost every cruelty free list (including PETA's which I was using as a guide before) that are owned by companies who do participate in animal testing. I personally do not feel comfortable buying these products, as the animal testing parent company will be receiving my money. I know there are many cruelty free shoppers who feel fine buying these brands because they believe this sends a signal to the parent company that they want cruelty free products. Honestly I really believe that these companies do not care one bit; owning one cruelty free product is a way for them to get your money instead of a small, lesser known 100% cruelty free company (I don't meant to offend anyone I am just explaining my position).

Two days ago I discovered that even more brands listed as cruelty free are not 100% cruelty free. Many widely accepted cruelty free brands have policies resembling this:

"We do not conduct animal testing on our products or ingredients, nor ask others to test on our behalf, except when required by law."

Then I found out that in the EU animal testing is banned and that the FDA does not require that safety tests be performed on animals. I have already gotten one response from a parent company, that is touted as the cruelty free model for other companies, that essentially says sometimes its the only way so that's what it does to sell its products.

DISAPPOINTED.

So now what?

All of this has led me here. There is so much confusion, purposefully misleading statements and beating around the bush with this subject that if any of my posts help even one person, who wants to shop this way, buy a truly cruelty free product I will be happy.

Now my small disclaimer:

I am new to this! As I have said this is a confusing topic, but I will do the best I can providing information for companies. I will make sure to always show exactly what has been shown to me so you can draw your own opinions, but I will also express my own.

If I make any mistakes please, please, please correct me! I want to know the facts, and not spread the wrong information even if it is unintentional.